Improvement in fastening bands on bales and packages



trice@ armar HAZARD KNOWLES, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FASTENING BANDS ON BALES AND PACKAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,092, dated March 1, loil.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, HAZARD KNowLns, of the city, county, and State of N ew York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Method of Locking or Fastening Metallic Straps or Hoops for Strapping or Hooping Packages, Casks, Barrels, &c.; and I do hereby declare thatthe following isafull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,makin'g part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a face view of a double lock or clasp joint; Fig. 2, a section thereof; Fig. 3, a face view o1 a modification of the said lockjoint before fastening the ends of the strap; Fig. 4, aside elevation with the ends fastened; Fig. 5, a section of Fig. 3; Fig. 6, another section of the same with the ends of the strap partly bent over, and Fig. 7 asection of a singie lock joint or fastening.

The sameletters indicatelike parts in all the figures.

It has been the general practice heretofore to unite the ends ofmetal straps to each other for hoops and bands to lap and rivet them together, or when uniting one or both ends to any other metallic substance to make such union by rivets; but this method weakens the ends so united, as the cutting or punching ont of the holes not only takes away a considerahle portion of the width of the metal, but at the same time strains the metal at the sides of the holes, and such Inode of fastening is in many situations attended with inconvenience, as the holes are generally required to be punched where the joints are made.

The object of inyiuvention is ,to effect the union of the ends of metallic straps or hooks without reducing the strength of the metal, and at the same time to make a strong and cheap joint, which can be readily made; and to effect this my invention consists in using what I denominate a single or double toggle clasp -joint 7 by punching aslot through a metal plate, which slot is to be about equal in length to the width of the strap to be fastened, and of sufficient breadth to receive the two ends of the strap, if for a double joint, or the single end, if for a single joint, that portion or portions of the said plate on one or both sides of the slot being cut through for a short distance and curved up in about the form which is produced in punching a slotin a thin metal plate by a chisel when the plate is resting on a block of lead or wood, thus forming for a singlejoint one and for a double joint twolips slightly curved from the general plane of the plate, the end or ends of the strap to be fastened being bent and the bent part inserted in the slot, and then bent or clinched over thelip or lips, so that the pull on the strap shall act, F

in connection with the lip or lips, in the manner of a togglejoint, tending to flatten the lip or lips, and thereby toincrease the grasp by which the strap is held.

In the several figures of the accompanying drawings, a represents the metal strap to be fastened, and b the plate of metal for making the toggle clasp-joint. This plate of metal should be so much wider than the strap a and of such thickness that its sides beyond the slot cut through it shall present at least as much strength as the strap.

For a single toggle clasp-joint for fastening the two ends of a strap I- make two parallel cuts, c c, (see Figs. l and 2,) through the plate, and equal in length to the width of the strap a,- and I also make a cut, d, at each end of the cut c, and at right angles thereto, so that the metal inside of these cuts can be lifted up in a slight curve to form the two lips e c. By thus bending up the lips slightly above the plane of the plate two openings are formed for the ends of theV strap a, which are to be bent, as at j', before being inserted, and then bent or clinched over the lips, as represented at 11 Fig. 2. Then so bent over, it will be perceived. that any force applied to pull apart the two ends of the strap will tend constantly to pull down the two lips to the plane of the plate, and that the greater the tendency to so pull down the lips the greater will be the grip on the strap to hold it firmly; or, instead of the above, I make a double joint by forming the two lips e e, one on each side of a single cut or slot in the middle of the length of the plate b, making the side cuts, d d, extend each side of the main out. In this way the two lips are bent np in the same manner and face each other, with the slot c between the two of suf- .icient size to receive the two ends ofthe strap a, which are first to be bent, as at f, and inserted in the slot, and then one bent or clinched over each lip, as at 7L, Fig. 4. Vhen thus formed, as last described, the straps act on the lips in substantially the same manner as in the iirst example.

Fig. 7 represents a single joint to fasten one end of a strap to a plate of metal in the same manner as in Figs. l and 2. The plates for forming such joints can be made in quautities, and by having them already prepared straps can be more readily secured in this way than by any other mode ot' fastening with which I am acquainted.

I am aware that it has been proposed to fasten the ends ol" metallic straps or hoops by means ofa metal plate with slots to receive the ends ofthe strap or hoop, but not in a manner involving the principle ol" my said invention. In one ot' these prior plans each end ot' the strap must be passed through two slots in the plate, lirst in one direction through one slot, then in the reverse direction through the other slot, and then between itself and the plate, or passed double through one slot to form a loop above the plate for the passage ot' a fastening-key, in

' both oi' which modes the bight of the strap itselfbeing the sole band, and in neither of which modes ot' application is the principle ol' the toggle-joint involved, as in my said invention, by which thc tension increases the binding lorce ol the joint. I n another ot' these plans, although but one slot in the plate is required for each end ol" the strap, and the plate is 'l'ormed with a bent lip on one Yside of each slot, the projection of such lip, instead of being, as in my said invention, on the outer face ofthe plate, that the end ot' the strap may be clinched over it to complete the fastening, and so that the pull on the strap shall tend t-o draw the lip close onto the strap and thereby increase the clasping force, the lips project and must project from the inner face of the plate, and inA stead of being clinch'ing or nipping lips they are mere projections, around which the strap or hoop is bent to form a second surface to hold the strap by surface-friction, as a rope is more firmly held when passed around two than a Asingle belaying-pin andthe ends ot' the straps, instead of being clinched onto the lips, are simply passed under and between them and some elastic body inclosed by the strap-such asa bale of cotton or some elastic equivalent the elasticity ol' the body inclosed by the strap being one of the elements of and indispensable to such a fastening. I do not wish, however, to be understood as making claim, broadly, to the use of a slotted or mortised plate as a means of securing` the ends of metall ic straps or hoops, but

'hat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method, substantially as above described, offastening the ends ot'a metallic strap or hoop by passing each end ot' the strap or hoop through a slot in a metal plate, one edge otA which slot is formed'with a bent lip on the outer face, bending the end of the strap or hoop over and outside of such lip, and hammering or clinching down both the end ofthe strap and the lip, that the strap or hoop may be clasped or held irrespective ofthe body which is to be strapped or hooped, substantially as described.

HAZARD KNOWLES. XVitnesses:

WM. I-I. Bisrtor, ANDREW Dn Limi'. 

